Fader Bridge — manual
In the box
- Fader Bridge
- This manual
You also need: a USB-MIDI controller (ready-made maps: Korg nanoKONTROL / nanoKONTROL2, Behringer X-Touch in MC mode; others through the mapping wizard), a USB cable for the controller and a 5 V USB power supply rated at least 1 A.
First start
- Connect 5 V power to the USB-C socket (the smaller opening in the bottom wall). The screen shows what still needs to be switched on.
- Connect the controller to the USB-A socket (the larger socket in the bottom wall). “USB” in the screen header turns green.
- On the recorder choose MENU › SYSTEM › Bluetooth › F8 Control › Yes. The recorder waits for a connection for 5 minutes, so Fader Bridge must already be on.
- After about 8 seconds the device reads the recorder’s state and shows the mixer: timecode, meters and fader positions.
- Move each fader through its current value. The channel number stops blinking when the fader “catches” the recorder’s fader. Until then the fader changes nothing, so levels never jump.
Controller tips
- nanoKONTROL2: in the KORG Kontrol Editor set Common › LED Mode › External, so the S/M/REC/PLAY LEDs show the recorder’s state.
- X-Touch: enable MC/USB mode (full X-Touch: hold SELECT on channel 1 while powering on; X-Touch Compact: hold MC). Power the X-Touch from its own power supply.
- Switch the knobs between trim and pan with CYCLE. The second fader layer (outputs) is TRACK ▶ on the Korg and FLIP on the X-Touch.
Another controller: mapping wizard
When you connect a controller the device does not know, the wizard starts by itself. Do what the screen asks: MOVE FADER 1 (move the fader through its whole range), TURN KNOB 1, PRESS ARM 1, PRESS PFL 1 and so on. If the controller has fewer controls in a row, wait 5 seconds and the wizard moves on. The mapping is stored in the device. When two recorders are connected, the wizard does a second pass for recorder B.
Two recorders
- Turn on F8 Control on the second recorder once the first one is connected. The second one joins by itself.
- REC and STOP act on both recorders at once. All other controls operate the recorder selected on the screen.
- Selecting the recorder: on the nanoKONTROL scenes 1 and 3 → A, 2 and 4 → B; on the X-Touch the BANK / CHANNEL buttons.
- The device remembers which recorder is A and which is B, also after it is switched off.
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | What to do |
|---|---|
| “F8n szukam…” (searching) does not go away | Turn on F8 Control on the recorder (step 3). Close the F8 Control app on your phone or tablet; the recorder may not accept two controllers at once. |
| “podłącz USB” (connect USB) | Check the controller cable and the 5 V power. The controller must get power from the socket. |
| A fader changes nothing | The fader has not caught the value yet; move it through its whole range. |
| The connection drops | Move closer to the recorder and do not cover the device with metal. |
Safety
- There is a 250 mAh lithium-polymer battery inside. Do not heat the device above 45 °C (e.g. in a car in the sun), do not crush, puncture or throw it into fire.
- Power it only with 5 V from a CE-marked power supply or power bank.
- Protect it from water and moisture. Use it at 0–40 °C.
- If the enclosure is damaged, the device gets hot, swells or smells burnt, disconnect the power and contact us.
- This is not a toy. Keep it out of reach of small children.
- The enclosure can be opened with a screwdriver. Do not modify the module inside.
Compliance and radio
Radio part: the M5StickS3 (K150) module by M5Stack Technology Co., Ltd. Frequency band: 2400–2483.5 MHz (Bluetooth LE), maximum power: 3.6 dBm (according to the module’s CE certificate). The declaration of conformity is available from the seller.
Disposal
The crossed-out bin symbol means that the worn-out device and its battery must not be thrown away with household waste. Take them to an electronic waste collection point or to a shop when buying new equipment of the same kind. The substances it contains can harm the environment and health.
Software and licences
Software: © 2026 Tadeusz Chłoń Dźwięk. It uses ESP-IDF and NimBLE (Apache License 2.0, © Espressif Systems and the Apache Software Foundation) and the 5×7 font from Adafruit GFX (BSD licence, © Adafruit Industries). The protocol implementation is based on the zoom-f8-ble-protocol documentation by Ashtry197 (CC BY 4.0). Full licence texts: soakupsound.pl/en/licencje. Software updates: soakupsound.pl.
Seller
Tadeusz Chłoń Dźwięk, ul. Zdrojowa 69, 02-297 Warsaw, Poland, tax ID (NIP) 9522211605, kontakt@soakupsound.pl, +48 784 522 711
Zoom, F8 and F8 Control are trademarks of Zoom Corporation; Korg and nanoKONTROL — Korg Inc.; Behringer and X-Touch — Music Tribe; M5Stack and M5StickS3 — M5Stack Technology Co., Ltd. Fader Bridge is an independent product, not affiliated with these companies.